Hitachi DeskStar 7K250 hard drive 'set' to smaller value - how doI reset it to 250 GB?

[Jim Stratman]

I just bought a Hitachi DeskStar 7K250 250 GB hard drive, and want to
use it on my computer running Windows XP Pro, replacing the 40 GB hard
drive I have. Unfortunately, I was foolish enough to use the 'Hitachi
DeskStar Hard Disk Configuration CD' that came with the hard drive to
try to copy the Windows XP, programs, etc. from the smaller to the
larger hard drive. Well, that failed, so I tried using the above CD to
just 'format the drive' It recommended that I 'resize' the hard drive
to fool the BIOS into thinking it was smaller (37 GB), then install
Windows XP and the I could us the Disk Management console to 'make' it
bigger.

To resize the hard drive, the above CD has an option to 'set' the hard
drive size. Well, It is set at 37 MB, and now the BIOS thinks it is
only a 37 MB hard drive, XP thinks it is only a 37 MB hard drive, even
when I connect it to another machine, it only reports at 37 MB in Disk
Management console, with no other space at all. This other machine has
an identical one of these 250 GB hard drives as an extra data drive and
it shows up fine, so I know the BIOS isn't the problem.

I can't get the configuration program to properly reset it to its
default, 250 GB size. It seems to me I have programmed or set in the
firmware of this hard drive that it is only a 37 GB drive.

Any utilities I can use to reset it? Is it the MBR that's screwed up?
Is the MBR on the disk or is it in the drive firmware? I just want to
get it to a virgin, from the factory state.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Jim

 

[Rod Speed]

I just bought a Hitachi DeskStar 7K250 250 GB hard drive, and want to use it
on my computer running Windows XP Pro, replacing the 40 GB hard drive I have.
Unfortunately, I was foolish enough to use the 'Hitachi DeskStar Hard Disk
Configuration CD' that came with the hard drive to try to copy the Windows XP,
programs, etc. from the smaller to the larger hard drive. Well, that failed,
so I tried using the above CD to just 'format the drive' It recommended that
I 'resize' the hard drive to fool the BIOS into thinking it was smaller (37
GB), then install Windows XP and the I could us the Disk Management console to
'make' it bigger.

To resize the hard drive, the above CD has an option to 'set' the hard drive
size. Well, It is set at 37 MB, and now the BIOS thinks it is only a 37 MB
hard drive, XP thinks it is only a 37 MB hard drive, even when I connect it to
another machine, it only reports at 37 MB in Disk Management console, with no
other space at all. This other machine has an identical one of these 250 GB
hard drives as an extra data drive and it shows up fine, so I know the BIOS
isn't the problem.

I can't get the configuration program to properly reset it to its default, 250
GB size. It seems to me I have programmed or set in the firmware of this hard
drive that it is only a 37 GB drive.

Any utilities I can use to reset it?

Yes, Hitachi's Feature Tool
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#FeatureTool

Is it the MBR that's screwed up?
Nope.

Is the MBR on the disk
Yep.

or is it in the drive firmware?
Nope.

I just want to get it to a virgin, from the factory state.

Bit hard to return a virgin to an unfucked state |-)

FT will fix the size it reports to the bios tho.

 

[Folkert Rienstra]

I just bought a Hitachi DeskStar 7K250 250 GB hard drive, and want to
use it on my computer running Windows XP Pro, replacing the 40 GB hard
drive I have. Unfortunately, I was foolish enough to use the 'Hitachi
DeskStar Hard Disk Configuration CD' that came with the hard drive
to try to copy the Windows XP, programs, etc. from the smaller to the
larger hard drive. Well, that failed, so I tried using the above CD to
just 'format the drive' It recommended that I 'resize' the hard drive
to fool the BIOS into thinking it was smaller (37 GB), then install
Windows XP and the I could us the Disk Management console to 'make'
it bigger.

To make the partition bigger than 32(!) GB(!) or to partition the unused
space once the drive is booted from and the 32GB setting is returned
to the original full capacity by the drive bios overlay.

To resize the hard drive, the above CD has an option to 'set' the hard
drive size. Well, It is set at 37 MB, and now the BIOS thinks it is
only a 37 MB hard drive, XP thinks it is only a 37 MB hard drive, even
when I connect it to another machine, it only reports at 37 MB in Disk
Management console, with no other space at all. This other machine has
an identical one of these 250 GB hard drives as an extra data drive and
it shows up fine, so I know the BIOS isn't the problem.

Do you boot from the drive?
If it installed a boot overlay, then that is how you are to use it.
There was a reason why it did it that way, so obviously setting it
back is not an option. You should use it as intended or the drive
will be smaller permanent, not only during boot.
If you set the capacity back to original then it may hang at boot.

I can't get the configuration program to properly reset it to its
default, 250 GB size. It seems to me I have programmed or set
in the firmware of this hard drive that it is only a 37 GB drive.

Right, to fool the bios into thinking that it is not
that big unsupported drive that it doesn't like.

Any utilities I can use to reset it?

If your bios doesn't support it you should leave it as it is and boot
from it. There is a possibility though that the XP installation undid
the boot overlay and you may have to use the CD again to re-install it.
If your bios does not hang and your XP boot is within the limit of what
the bios can address then you can undo the 32GB 'short-stroke' of the
drive with the 'Feature Tool'.

Is it the MBR that's screwed up?
Is the MBR on the disk or is it in the drive firmware?

I just want to get it to a virgin, from the factory state.

Not if your bios can't handle that.